To dip or not to dip…

[shooter2377]

Ok, so last night (Sunday) I ordered 35 lbs of the premium live rock from gulf live rock, and got the call an hour or so ago that it is arriving tomorrow morning at ten. I have a 55 gallon tank already, but this is to go in to a new 125 gallon tank that’s still in the process of being set up (I didn’t think it would come this fast. I figured next week!) anyway, the tank is about 3/4 full and I think I have enough stuff to get it going at keep it going for the short term.

anyway, I’m very excited to get the rock and place it in the tank, however I was wondering if I need to do anything special like a fresh water dip or just drop it in. I’ll be under a little bit of a time crunch when I pick it up, as I’m gonna have to sneak away from work to pick it up and get it home, so I’m kinda thinking just dropping it in and see what happens, and hopefully nothing too bad will come in on it.

What are you guys thoughts on this?

 

[Mandrew559]

Id say you have to rinse or dip or something. Curious to what others say.

 

[Reeffraff]

With any rock that comes directly from the ocean, there is a risk of unwanted hitchhikers such as mantis shrimp. I'd personally be more worried about all the die off (i.e. sponges and tunicates) that can't handle 24 hours out of water and the associated ammonia spike that goes along with it.

 

[shooter2377]

I do expect some die off, and hoping for some cool hitchhikers, but I am getting it shipped in water and it’s being shipped through southwest air cargo so I’m hoping the die off is minimal. I guess at this point I’m setting up a brand new tank and will be combining the two into one once the larger tank is fully ready

 

[vetteguy53081]

Place in a container and add tank water over 2-3 hours. During this time, many hitchhikers may emerge before placing rock in the tank

 

[littlebigreef]

No risk no reward. I had a buddy order 50lbs of fresh rock. He ended up with shrooms and a few encrusters on there that turned out to be around for as long as he had the aquarium. It was pretty cool watching them grow from nothing at all. Now, I see people acting pretty anal about "controlling" what they think they're putting in their tank but its a crapshoot.

 

[MaxTremors]

So long as it’s going into a temporary tank with nothing else in it, you can always dip it later (I think they recommend a few minutes in hypersalinity around 1.028-1.030) but I don’t know that it’s necessary. Personally, I take a wait and see approach with hitchhikers and love all of the microfauna that comes on good live rock. If it were my rock, I’d put it in the 55g with some lighting and flow, monitor the ammonia (and do a water change if necessary), and then just observe. If there are any undesirable hitchhikers, take em out, but otherwise just let it cure a little before moving it to the new tank.